Dog Days of Summer
by DragonStorm85
Summary: One-shot AU. Being independent was a lonely business. And for the most part, Kakashi preferred it that way. But there was always one girl (okay, maybe two) who had his heart wrapped around her tiny little fingers. Pfft. Maybe Minato was right. Maybe he did understand dogs more than he did humans...


**Theme**: "Three times Kakashi realized he understood dogs better than he understood most people."  
**Character(s)**: Hatake Kakashi, Tenten, OC: Sarutobi Mei; brief mentions of Uchiha Obito, Nohara Rin, Namikaze Minato, Maito Gai, Tsunade, Shizune, Haruno Sakura  
**Pairing(s)**: Implied Kakashi/OC  
**Warning(s)**: None.  
**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but these words.  
**Note**: Written as a reply to the Three Times Meme request.  
**Dedicated to**: Um... whoever made the request I suppose. Sorry it took so long.

oo1.

Sometimes, people simply placed too much focus on thinking.

He had been on active duty since he was five. A majority of his life was spent fighting in this war. Kakashi knew how it felt to face hard decisions in the midst of battle; choices that meant the difference between life and death, both for him and the members of the squad he was assigned to in that endeavour. This was not one of those moments. There were no contest of faith. There were no lives hanging in the balance. It was just a simple question that required only one of two answers: yes or no. Sex or no sex. What was so difficult about that?

"So, Mei. What's it gonna be?"

For animals, it was instinctual. For dogs, especially, it was a way of life to live, love, and enjoy what the world had to offer. There was very little consideration involved beyond who would serve as a good mate - a good female to become the balance to his male dominance.

And as he took in her scent, he could very well smell the potential in her.

She would make a _great_ Alpha.

But he wasn't presenting her with forever and a litter of pups to raise and grow old to. On the contrary. He was just offering a release. An escape. It was something he knew they both needed. They had all lost someone in this war, some suffering more than others. And he, most of all, wanted to forget about all the faces that haunted his dreams. He needed to forget all the voices that called out to him in the dark, if only for a brief moment in time with tangled limbs and sweaty sheets. Was that really too much to ask...

"...Okay. I'll do it."

Lifting a slender, silver brow, he slid his fingers carefully over the curve of her bare shoulder, still warm and damp from her shower. "Well, don't look too eager..."

Her only response was to scoff at his casual attitude. Honestly, she could at least pretend to be happy about it.

oo2.

There was no denying it. She was his.

The scent was hidden under layers of disinfectant and lemon-fresh cleaning products, along with a few trace hints of her mother's unique blend of scents. But there was no mistaking the faint wisps that was significant to his own biology, mixing and mingling with Mei's to create a smell that was all her own.

"...Tenten."

She had named her Heaven...

Staring down at her, now, feeling an odd stir in his chest at the way the child curled against him while he held her, Kakashi could understand why. Had started to understand it the moment he slid in through the window and saw how the moonlight hit her little lines and baby curves.

She was the greatest peace he could ever know.

And someone else was laying claim to her.

A part of him felt territorial over the fact. A greater part of him wanted to stake his own claim and call Mei out on her bull. This was _his_ pack. It was _his_ pup.

She was _his_ Alpha. He had every right...

But Mei had made her choice. She told her lies and chosen another to play father to her child. To _their_ child.

He could have no say in that; the kunoichi had made sure. Not that it mattered, much. Kakashi saw himself unfit for the role, anyways, or so was his belief. After failing to protect his team - Obito, Rin, even Minato who only managed to survive through sheer will - having a child rely on him so completely and unconditionally would only send them both to an early grave. And the Copy-Nin could not find it in himself to watch another child of the village die at his hands; least of all, this one.

Alphas, after all, protected their pact til the end.

oo3.

Maybe he understood nothing at all.

She had grown considerably, he noted, since the last time he'd laid eyes on her; not that he was trying to pay especially close attention. Not that Gai had made it a terribly convenient habit of bringing his genin squad with him when he made those silly daily challenges, these days. She was developing into a near mirror image of the mother they had buried only a few years before. Already, Tenten was becoming a better Seal Master and Weapon Smith than Mei ever was. In the blink of an eye, it seemed, time itself had shifted into this whole new world where ihe/i was the teacher. And all those who once stood beside him were lost to the winds, nothing more than faceless names on a cold stone.

Now, when had that happened?

His left eye aching and tearing, the Jounin was quick to push away thought of the past and refocused on the girl seated before him in the present.

"Tenten..."

Distant and distracted, she only spared him a glance before returning her gaze to the knife gripped in her fingers. Stretched across her lap was the paper edge of the giant scroll she always carried with her, an empty space in the parchment where the weapon had been summoned from; where it would return to once Tenten was done. And still, she said nothing. When it became clear that he would not be the first to break the silence, the kunoichi seemed to resign herself to the role, a determined knit in her brows that was deep enough to possibly even rival Gai's boundless resolve.

"I don't care how much you hate hospitals. You're staying in that bed until Lady Tsunade or Shizune give me the okay." Whetstone in hand, she passed the edge across the angle of the blade in a smooth, outward motion, and continued to do so without missing a single beat. "I'll even allow you the courtesy of accepting _Sakura's_ approval for release."

He raised a casual brow at that. "I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than play watchdog."

"...Not a thing."

Tilting his head in consideration, the shinobi regarded her with a leveled gaze at the shift in her tone; a wary gaze. By right, she should have been furious with him - Sakura would be, probably. But then, she had a lot of things to be angry about these days - By principle, Tenten should want nothing to do with him. The kunoichi already had a father, even if he was dead and cold in the ground beside Mei, But here she was, seated by his bedside, acting like someone who actually seemed concerned about his well-being...

"...I've lost one, already," she murmured after a while, "And, if it's alright with you, I'd rather not lose any more."

She was determined, that much was for sure; bull-headed over her stance. Just as he would expect any student of Maito Gai to be. Like Kakashi expected from any one of his ninken. But then, did he have any right to call Tenten such a thing when she wasn't even supposed to be his to begin with?

There were obligations; there was the need to protect her, certainly. She was the next generation of soldiers who would grow to defend the home he had spent his whole life salvaging from the brink of destruction time and time again. Wanting her to survive long enough to take the reigns - to fall in line and take on the burden that so many others had carried before her - was only fitting. That was nature and how the natural order of things worked. There shouldn't have been emotions beyond that. They were unnecessary. They were dangerous.

And yet...

He sighed softly, resigning to his fate. "...Fair enough." And then wondered, briefly, why he'd given in so easily.

Why he even cared.

His muscles ached in protest, nonetheless, as he settled down against the stack of pillows at his back - a familiar weariness in his limbs that came with overusing the mangekyo sharingan in battle. He wasn't as young as he used to be, afterall - And with the knowledge that she was there watching over him, Kakashi slipped into a soundless sleep, one lingering thought drifting in and out of his mind as sleep began to take over:

Perhaps, he knew nothing at all. About humans or dogs.


End file.
